Charges apply

Amongst the various distractions that I employ to pass my threescore years and ten is the attendance of a committee called 'Kendal Futures'. Everyone else goes along to concern themselves with Kendal's future, whereas I am more intrigued by the idea that Kendal has multiple futures, fan that I am of Hugh Everett III's many-worlds interpretation of quantum theory.

In one of those multiple futures, I would like to think that Kendal will address its concerns regarding the moribund town centre by looking at the ridiculous car parking policy, or, more specifically, the stupid charges that are applied to anyone who'd like to park their car while they go shopping, have a meal or pop into the cinema.

Back in the sepia-tinted, nostalgic days of two or three years ago, one at least had an hour's free parking at the Westmorland Centre (now nestling in the cold, clawing hands of administrators), but these days you pay £1.10 just to leave your car there - or anywhere else in Kendal - for up to an hour. Back then, in those heady times, colleagues would pop into town at lunchtime but these days we spend our lunch-hours wandering around Asda pondering the true value of items tainted by the mark of bogof.

Crossfade to the similarly sized town of Chorley, where you can get two hours' parking for less than the cost of an hour in the attractively nicknamed Auld Grey Town. You might also notice from the photo that you can park for free on a Saturday afternoon, which might go some way towards explaining the weekend buzz that is to be enjoyed in this thriving market town. (Speaking of which, it has a much more scintillating market, too, but I don't that's related to the parking charges.)